well well well, this came together quicker than i thought..
gave it the maiden voyage last night and woke up on the couch. it was so good i passed out
https://imgur.com/a/joIo9
it seems i could have drilled the hole for heater tube about 1/16" closer to the edge, as it sits at an angle (not quite plumb) but works well. see pic #6. now that i have a better idea of where it will fall, i can add a center "punch mark" in the model, so when it gets printed it will be easier to locate and drill the hole. i found that making the holes smaller in the model. then re-drilling them once the part is printed and cleaned up makes for a much cleaner circle. when you try to 3d print a circle, vertically, gravity turns it into an ellipse, not bad, but noticable.
pics #1 and #2 are for perspective, you can kind of see how big everything is compared to the soda can.
the power ports (RCA jack) are recessed to hide a bit of the RCA plug.
to charge, you just pull the lid off the battery part, the charging plug is accessible, just plug it in. see pic #7
this was printed in PLA @ 200 μm
i am extremely happy with the result. even if i am not a fan of the 80's retro look
thank
@Pipes and
@phattpiggie for their help and research and ultimately what pushed me to get this made..